Thruway Shopping Center is caught in a legal tangle over the center's owners' contract to sell to a firm that plans to build a Hannaford. A Foodtown group is suing to block the sale. Now, the center operators are pushing in court to get the Foodtown suit dismissed. Here, Sam Arora and Carlos Cabrara load groceries.

Thruway Shopping Center pushes for Hannaford

By James Walsh

Times Herald-Record

August 09, 2012 - 2:00 AM

WALDEN — Operators of the Thruway Shopping Center Plaza are seeking the dismissal of a lawsuit that has stalled the planned construction of a Hannaford Supermarket and pharmacy that would replace Thruway's grocery and drugstores.

Employees of the shopping center, meanwhile, have faced an uncertain future as layoffs have been scheduled, postponed and rescheduled while the lawsuit plays out.

On July 27, the Thruway operators offered arguments to state Supreme Court Judge Alan Scheinkman in White Plains, seeking the dismissal of the lawsuit, which was filed on Feb. 7 by PSK Operating of Mount Vernon, a member of the Foodtown Cooperative.

PSK claims it was entitled to match the offer for the shopping center's Foodtown supermarket before the owners contracted to sell it for $6.4 million to Southern Realty Development of Warwick, which plans to build the Hannaford.

Just two weeks before the suit was filed, Hannaford was projecting an autumn start of the new store's construction. Now the fate of the project and the timeline for its completion are uncertain.

No Foodtown, papers say

In court papers, Thruway's lawyer, Thomas Landrigan of Goshen, discounted PSK's contention that the sale would bring any Foodtown "goodwill" Hannaford's way. Not only would at least 18 months pass between the closing of the Walden store and the opening of a Hannaford, Landrigan wrote in the July 27 documents, but the workers will also be laid off with no guarantee of employment with Hannaford.

"Further, neither Hannaford, nor Southern, is purchasing a Foodtown," Landrigan stated, noting that the existing building will be demolished and its assets liquidated. Thruway also argues that the sale of the plaza was made by Oak Street Equities, a separate entity from the supermarket not subject to Foodtown bylaws.

'Overlapping principals'

Lawyers for PSK have questioned the independence of the underlying corporations run by the Concors family.

"Thruway Markets is a mere alter ego of the remaining defendants (Thruway Center Associates and Oak Street Equities) "» All of the defendants are owned, dominated and controlled by the same or overlapping principals, and have the same or overlapping directors and beneficial owners," Manhattan lawyers Bruce Ewing and Elizabeth Rosen state in the complaint that launched the lawsuit in February.

Landrigan said in his arguments that Oak Street, Thruway Center Associates and Thruway Foods "have shown clearly that they are separate active entities operating appropriately. They have separate bank accounts, keep track of their distinct transactions in very detailed ledgers, (and) file separate tax returns."

What about layoffs?

Thruway's nearly 60-year-old plaza is one of the largest employers in the Walden area.

According to its most recent filing with the state Department of Labor, the company now targets the closing of its food store within the next six months.

The notice indicates that the layoff of 117 full- and- part-time employees will begin as soon as Oct. 25. Layoffs were previously scheduled for April 13 and then for July 11.

But the actual closing date, Thruway states in the notice, "depends on the winding down and liquidation of its operations."

Thruway Sporting Goods, Thruway Liquor and Thruway True Value Hardware are to remain open during the planned redevelopment.